Means for guiding objects through dispensing machines



June 13, 1950 c. CASE 2,511,099

MEANS FOR GUIDING OBJECTS THROUGH DISPENSING MACHINES Filed March 1,1946 3 Sheets-Sheet l a INVENTOR.

L. C! Kase ab BY mam June 13, 1950 2,511,099

L. C. CASE MEANS FOR GUIDING OBJECTS THROUGH DISPENSING MACHINES FiledMarch 1, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 mm! a Tij.

INVENTOR. 17. 6'. Case Vim HTTOIP/VEK June 13, 1950 c. CASE 2,511,099

MEANS FOR GUIDING OBJECTS THROUGH DISPENSING MACHINES Filed March 1,1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Ti=..b.

o 3 N INVENTOR. L. 6'. Ca \s'e L! BY iiL mm Patented June 13, 1950 MEANSFOR GUIDING OBJECTS THROUGH DISPENSING MACHINES Leslie C. Case, LosAngeles, Calif., assignor to Case Company, a corporation of NevadaApplication March 1, 1946, Serial No. 651,263

. 13 Claims. 1

This invention relates to dispensing mechanism for coin controlledvending machines and has particular reference to means of this characteradapted to dispense heavy, cylindrical objects, such as filled bottles,cans and the like.

Various types of vending machines are widely used commercially and, incases Where light articles are to be" dispensed, have been found verysatisfactory. .Machines have also been introduced for dispensing heavyobjects, such as liquid filled bottles and'cans,'but such machines'ashave come to my notice are complicated, expensive and troublesome, inthat they frequently get out of order and so defeat their very purpose.

In view of the foregoing, it is'the object of my invention to provide asimple, inexpensive and sturdy device which is capable of dispensingsuch liquid filled containers over a long period of time withoutattention, except for refilling; which is not liable to get out oforder; and which has the capacity to dispense more objects per cubicfoot of cabinet space than any other machine that has come to my notice.

Certain dlfiiculties are encountered in dispensing glass bottles, whichare not found in connection with cylindrical. or rectangular objectssuch as commonlyv dispensed from coin operated vending machines. One isthe odd shape of a bottle. Because the 'neck'portion of the bottle is somuch smallerthan the body portion thereof, it is found that the'bottleswill not remain in their alined sequence as they gradually settlethrough the casing, but will tend to tilt and twist and so to becomejammed together and to obstruct the passage through the machine. Thiscondition is further aggravated by. the fact thatthe bottles vary insize.

It is a further object of the invention to provide guiding means forbottles stored Within the machine to the end that the bottlesmay passthrough the machine in smooth, orderly and uninterrupted sequence.

A still further object is to provide means for guiding the cornermostbottle during the dispensing operations thereof in such precise andsmoothly controlled manner that vibrations and jars are substantiallyeliminated."

A further object is to'provide a machine'in which the coin slide becomesautomatically locked before the last object is dispensed, so as to pre--vent .the last coinifrom entering the machine and so to enable thepurchaser to recover his money. 7

Another object is to provide means designed to prevent tampering withthe dispensing mecha nism of the device by reaching through thedischarge opening in an effortto release the nearest object fordischarge.

To this end, the invention resides in the com: binations hereinafterfully described, and drawings are hereto annexed in which preferredforms of the invention are illustrated.

In the drawings: v

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view mainly of the lower portion of thedevice of my invention with mostly all of the front plate of its casingremoved in order to disclose the interior mechanism thereof;

Fig. 1A shows the upper portion of the device of Fig. 1;

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the lower portion of the device with the rearwall thereof removed;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view'with the near wall of the casingremoved for the sake of clearness;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view taken substantially on line 4-4 ofFig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 illustrates a portion of the coin control mechanism, theimportance of which is herein-' after fully explained.

The device of my invention, in the form illus trated in the drawings,comprises a casing I, within which is hung a shaft 2, and a series ofspider-like members 3 are rigidly secured to this shaft. The three legsof these members, which for convenience hereinafter generally arereferred to as the spiders, are shaped to supportthe objects to bedispensed, in this case bottles A, and to guide the bottles to adelivery tray 4, at the bottom of the casing, in the manner which'willnew be described in detail.

The rear end of the shaft 2 is fitted with a rigidly afiixed star-shapedcam 5, having grooves 5 shaped to receive a roller '6 which, in turn, ismounted for rotation on the end of an arm I. The weight of the storedbottles urges rotation of the cam in the direction of the arrow of Fig.2, but it is held against such rotation by the roller 5. The arm 1 isshown pivotally supported at 8, and it is made at its outer end with abent lip 1*. A second arm 9 is shown hung at l0, and it is at its outerend fitted to support a pawl II, the tip of which rides under the lip 1of the arm I. A spring l2 maintains this pawl projected into theposition shown, against'a stop l3.

As indicated in Fig. 1, the bottle A is held by one of the legs of thespiders pressed against the left side wall M of the casing; ready todrop into 3 y the delivery tray 4 the moment the spider is released forrotation. Such release is effected by an upward pull on the arm 9 tocause th pawl I I to swing the arm 7 upward until the roller 6 reachesand passes the corner of the cam, thereby to release the cam forrotation and so to free the bottle held by the legs of the spiders fordelivery into the tray.

It is not, however, safe to permit the piece of merchandise to dropsuddenly, particularly where glass bottles are to be dispensed, and itis for this reason advisable to introduce means for controlling thespeed of rotation of the released cam and spiders. Such means is hereshown in the form of a pneumatic check comprising a dashpot [5, such ascommonly used in door checks, and a plunger l.6, terminating in a headl'l, which rides on a stud I8 of the arm I. The portion 5, of the cam,which extends.

from the corner 5 thereof, rises on an easy curve until the point 5 isreached, to impart further rising movement-to the roller 6-, but as suchmovement is checked by the plunger H3, it isseen that the bottle is soslowly released that no danger of breakage is present. The plunger iscontrolled at constant speed with either light or heavy load by reliefof compression through a small orifice, inthe head of the dashpot, asusual in practice.

At this point, attention is directed to the shape of the spider leg, thepoint 3 of which enters between the bottles A and A as the spider slowlyturns to release the bottle A, and it is important to note that thebottle A at the same time rolls along the convex edge 3, whereupon thebottle. A rolls along the next following convex edge 3'. The rotationcontinues until the bottle A reaches the position previously occupied bythe bottle A; the roller 6 drops'into the next following groove 5; androtation ceases. It is to be noted that the side walls 14 and H), of thecasing, preferably are made from'uniformly spaced, parallel bars or rodsand that, in the case of the lower end of the wall l9, such horizontalspacing is necessary in order to provide clearance for spider rotation.-

The casing supports a framework high enough to maintain stored thereinso large a number of bottles or cans that the weight thereof would, ifthe objects were free to drop suddenly, be likely to cause breakage. Butbecause the speed of rotation is slowed'down, and also due to thecurvature of the spider legs, it is found that the dispensing movementof the merchandise is continuously under control so completely that nobumping, jarring, or clashing takes place.

It is in devices such as herein described, necessary to arrange the camand spiders in correct relation to the casing wall I4, in order for thespiders more firmly to grip the bottle A and properly to release thisbottle upon rotation of the cam and spiders, and it may for this reasonhe found advantageous to mount the above described control mechanism foradjustment relative to the casing. To this end, I have shown all of thismechanism mounted on a plate 29, see Fig. 2, which may be rotated on theshaft '2 until the desired, correct position of the parts thereof isattained. A screw 2! is seated in a slot of the plate Zil'toclamp thelatter in ad- .iusted position on the casing; or more screws may beadded if found necessary.

The height and shape of the storage space is important in order that thegreatest number of bottles may be stored in the most compact space andin order to make certain that the bottles are guided into the correctposition on the spiders. This may conveniently be done by placing apartition, consisting of a series of rods 23, intermediate the spiders,and this partition is so shaped that the stored merchandise is properlyguided. Where cylindrical articles are to be dispensed, this arrangementis, sufficient to insure smooth and orderly movement, but because bottles are smaller at the neck portion thereof, it becomes necessary toprovide additional guiding means therefor.

Such guiding means is, in Figs. 1 and 1-A, shown in the form of rods 40,4| which are fastened to the top of the casing, as by means of rivets42, 43; or they may be welded in position thereon, if preferred. Theserods are vertically directed to contact the bottles at the place wherethe body thereof commences to curve inward to form the neck,substantially as indicated in Fig. 4, thereby to force the outer row ofdescending bottles against the inner row thereof and so to preventtilting movement thereof. Due to variations in the size of bottles ofthe same general type manufactured by different firms, it furthermorebecomes necessary to adjust the rods 40, 4| to regulate the extent towhich the bottles of the outer row gradually are moved against the innerrow bottles, and this may conveniently be effected by mounting setscrews 44, 45 in the machine frame for contact with the rods 40, 4|.When properly adjusted, these screws are locked in position by checknuts 46.

It is noticed that the frame side walls 14 and I9 commence to, taperdownward from the place where the set screws 44, 45 are placed. Thetaper of the wall [9 remains uniform until the spider is reached but itis noticed that the wall l4 commences to curve outward, from a point ashort distance below the end of the center partition 23, to form a bulgeM This bulge is absolutely essential in order to relieve .the pressureagainst the bottles in their transfer from the two upper compartments tothe single lower compartment. Without such relief, the descendingbottles would become so tightly jammed together that they could notmove. It is also important to note that the lower end of the centralpartition is bent to the right to form a curved lip 23 This offset isalso essential in order to equalize the space on both sides of thepartition for the descending bottles.

As a final means of preventing the bottles from tipping and also inorder to force the bottles descending from the right compartment againstand into the line of the bottles descending from the left compartment, Ihave mounted a resilient bracket 48 on the side wall 19, in position toengage the neck of the bottles settling therealong and to urge themagainst the bottles of the left row, as the latter recede into the bulgeI4 The rear corner bars of'the frame are shown made in the form of anglebars 50, 5!, and a plate or T-bar 52 is centrally positioned in linewith the partition rods 23. These bars serve to maintain the bottles inposition within the frame. Opposite the spider 3, the side wall is againoffset, substantially as indicated at M to clear the spider and also topermit the bottle to pass. These shapes have been perfected after muchexperimenting and are essential to intermeshing of columns into a singlecolumn and to smooth, bump-free delivery.

Dispensing devices ar generally coin operated, but as many types of coincontrolled operating mechanisms are in commercial use, and as suchmechanism may readily be adapted to operate the present dispensingmechanism, it is thought sufficient herein to show a link 25 rising fromthe arm 9 and pivotally connected at the top to a bellcrank 26. Thelatter may, as indicated at 21, be connected to the usual coin slide 28.When a coin is placed in this slide, in the conventional manner, it ismerely required to push the slide ahead and thereby to release the camby raising the roller 6 out of the groove 5 In the coin slide 2 8 is cuta perforation 28*, from which a slot 28 extends rearwardly, see alsoFig. 6. A rod 29 is held suspended from a shaft 30 by means of an arm 3I, and this rod is fitted at the bottom with a head in the shape of anenlarged shoulder portion 32, terminating in a flange 32 The slide restson a suitable shelf 33, such as usually employed, and this shelf is madewith a perforation 33 which takes a position directly below the innerends of the slot 28 It is noticed that the rod 29 extends through thisslot and the perforation 33 One or more arms 34 extend downward from theshaft 30 to rest against the bottle A and a spring 35 urges these armsagainst the bottle and against all the stored bottles as theysuccessively reach this position. However, when the bottle A is the lastone left in the machine, abov the spiders, and the machine is operatedto pass it into the position at A, it is seen that the spring 35 is freeto draw the rod 29 upward until the shoulder 32 comes to rest againstthe edges of the slot 28 When thereupon the coin slide again is pushedahead to release the last bottle, it is found that the shoulder 32 risesthrough both perforations, 33* and 28 to lock the slide in advancedposition. The machine is then locked against further operation.

In order to prevent tampering with the machine by reaching through thedischarge chute 4 to the spiders, it is well to provide means preventingrotation of the latter in the wrong direction. Such means may take theform of a pawl 36 which, by a spring 31, is held pressed against thepoint 5 of the cam. A stop 3-8 is added to limit forward movement ofthis pawl. But more elaborate devices may, of course, be substituted.

It should be apparent to those versed in the art that I have provided asimple and inexpensive, gravity actuated mechanism for dispensingbottles from vertical columns. Further, that I have succeeded in mergingsuch vertical columns into a single vertical column from which bottlesare dispensed one by one solely by gravity. So far as I know this hasnever before been accomplished. Saving of floor space is one of the mostimportant considerations in the installation of such coin controlledvending machin s and it is important to note that, by the presentarrangement of multi-column, vertical storage, a minimum of floor spaceis occupied. The present machine may, for this reason, be installed inservice stations, waiting rooms, and similar cramped quarters withoutinconvenience to attendants or the public served.

Anoth r feature, above described, is most important. It is stated thatthe rear wall of the storage space consists of corner angle bars and acentral T-bar. By this arrangement, suificient spac is present betweenthese bars for insertion of the bottles. Had the rear wall been solid,as in other machines, it would have been necessary to drop the bottlesinto the frame from the top thereof and this would result in many brokenbot- 6 tles. The front wall must, of course, be solid, in order to forma stop for the bottle necks, but this open rear wall makes quick andconvenient loading possible.

While I have in the foregoing described a preferred form of thinvention, it is not thereby intended to limit the invention to theexact combinations of parts and arrangements of features thereof, but Ireserve the right to embody such modifications as will come within thescope of the claims hereto appended.

I claim:

1. A dispensing device for cylindrical objects comprising, a casinghaving right and left side walls and a discharge opening, a shaftrotatable within the casing, spiders on said shaft shaped to guide saidobjects to said opening, a vertical partition above said spidersdividing the casing into two storage compartments, the said casing wallsgradually tapering downward to readjust the stored objects as theysettle during the dispensing operation and approach and pass the lowerend of said partition and approach said spiders, thereby gradually tomerge the objects from the two compartments into a single column, saidleft wall continuing downward to the dis; charge opening of the casingat the left side of the spiders, the right casing wall terminating atthe bottom directly above the spider shaft sub stantially in continuedalignment with the sail partition.

2. A dispensing device for cylindrical objects comprising, a casinghaving right and left side walls composed of vertical uniformly spacedrods and a discharge opening, a shaft rotatable within the casing,spiders on said shaft shaped to guide said objects to said opening, avertical partition above said spiders dividing the casing into twostorage compartments, the said walls gradually tapering downward toreadjust the stored objects as they settle during dispensing operationsand approach and pass said partition and approach said spiders, therebygradually to merge the settling objects into a single column, said leftwall continuing downward to the discharge openin at the left side of thespiders, the right casing wall terminating directly above the spidershaft substantially in continued alignment with said partition. I

3. A dispensing device for cylindrical objects comprising, a casinghaving side walls and a discharge opening, a shaft seated for rotationwithin said casing, spiders on said shaft shaped to guide said objectsto the said opening, a vertical partition above said spiders dividingthe casing into two storage compartments, the said casing wallsgradually tapering downward to readjust the stored objects as theysettle during dispensing operations to approach and pass the lower endof said partition and to approach said spiders, thereby to cause theobjects gradually to merge into a single column, said partition being atthe bottom offset somewhat in order to equalize the space on both sidesof the partition so as to afford the objects of both columns space topass below the partition.

4. A dispensing mechanism for bottles comprising, a casing having sideWalls and a discharge opening, a shaft seated for rotation With-,- insaid casing, spiders on said shaft shaped to guide said bottles to thesaid opening, a vertical partition above said spiders dividing thecasing into two storage compartments, the said casing side wallsgradually tapering downward to readjust the stored bottles as theysettle during the dispensing'operations of' the "mechanism to approachand pass the lower 'end' of said partition and approach said spiders,thereby to cause the bottles gradually to merge into a single columnproperly directed" to thespider legs, and means mounted on the'said-sidewalls for directing the neck end of each bottleinward so as to'preventtilting of the bottle as; it passes beyond the lower end ofsaid'partiti'on;

5. A dispensing mechanism for bottles comprising, a casing havingsidewalls and a discharge opening, a shaft seated for rotation'withinsaid casing, spiders on saidshaft shaped to guide said bottles to thesaid opening: a vertical partition above said spiders dividing-thecasing intotwo storage compartments, .the said casing walls graduallytapering downward to readjust the stored bottles as they'settle duringdispensing operations of the mechanism to approach and pass the lowerend of said partition and approach said spiders, thereby to cause, thebottles gradually to merge intoa single column properly directed to thespider'legs, and means adjustably mounted on the said side Walls fordirecting the neck end of each bottle inward so as to prevent tilting ofthe bottle as it passes beyondthe lower end of said partition.

6. A dispensing mechanism for bottles comprising, a casing havingright'and left side walls and a discharge opening, a shaft seated for rotationwithin said casing, spiders on said shaft shaped to guide said bottlesto'the-said opening, a Vertical partition above said spiders dividingthe casing into two storage compartments, the said casing wallsgradually tapering. downward to readjust the stored bottles as theysettle during dispensing operations of the mechanism to approach andpass the lower end of said partition and approach said spiders, therebyto cause the bottles gradually to merge intoa single column properlydirected to the spider legs, and resilient means mounted on the rightside wall of the mechanism in position to engage the necks of thebottles descending therealong and to force the bottle necks inwardyieldingly to cause the bottles to merge into the row of bottlesdescending from the left compartment of the mechanism.

'7. A dispensing mechanism for bottles comprising, a casing having rightand left side walls and a discharge opening, a shaft seated for rotationwithin said casing, spiders on said shaft shaped to guide said bottle tothe said opening, a vertical partition above said spiders dividing thecasing into two storage compartments, the said casing walls graduallytapering downward to readjust the stored bottles as they settle duringdispensing operations of the mechanism to approach and pass the lowerend of said partition and approach said spiders, thereby to cause thebottles gradually to merge into a single column properly directed to thespider legs, and resilient means mounted on the right side wall belowsaid partition to engage the necks of the bottles descending thereon andso to assist in further urging said bottles inward as they merge intothe row of bottles descending. from the left compartment.

8. A dispensing mechanism for bottles comprising, a casing having rightand left side walls and a discharge opening, a shaft seated for rotationwithin said casing, spiders on said shaft shaped to guide said bottlesto the said opening, a vertical partition above said spiders dividinginto two storage compartments, the said casing side walls graduallytapering downward to 8. readjust the stored bottles "as they settle:during the" dispensing operations of the mechanism to approach andpassthe lower end of said partition and approach said spiders, therebyto cause the bottles gradually to-merge into a single column properlydirected tothe spiders legs, the left side' wall curving outwardbelow'the end of said partition to relieve pressure due to the mergingofthe bottles into-asingle column and soto prevent jamming thereof, thebottom end of the left side wall being outwardly offset to provide spacefor the bottles as they are delivered to the discharge opening bythe'spiders, and means mounted on the'said side walls for directing theneck end ofeach bottle inward so as to prevent tilting of the bottle asit passes beyond the lower endof said partition.

9. A: gravity actuated mechanism for dispensing bottles comprising, aframe divided at the upper portion thereof into two-parallel verticallydirected compartments, the sidewalls ofsaid compartments convergingdownwardly to merge the compartments into a single. vertically directedcompartment, the said compartments being shaped to receive bottles to beheld horizontally therein with the bottoms of the bottlesdirectedtowards the rear of the compartments, bars at the outer rearcorners and at the center division between said compartments for holdingand guiding the bottoms: of the bottles and to maintain the bottlesin-position within the compartments, there being-vertically directedspaces between said bars'for-insertion of the bottles, and means belowsaidsingle compartment shaped to receive bottles from the compartmentone by one, said means being gravity actuated to dispense the bottlestherefrom.

10. A gravity actuated mechanism for dispensing bottles comprising, aframe divided at the upper portion thereof into two parallel verticallydirected compartments, the side walls of said compartments convergingdownwardly to merge the compartments into a single vertically directedcompartment, the said compartments being shaped to receive bottles tobeheld horizontally therein with the bottom of the bottles directedtowards the rear of the compartments, bars at the outer rear corners andat the center division between said compartments for holding. andguiding the bottoms of the bottles and maintaining the bottles inposition within the compartments, there being vertically directed spacesbetween said bars for insertion of said bottles, means verticallymountable on the side walls of the compartments engaging the bottles andurging the front portions thereof inwardly, thereby to aid in mergingthe bottiesinto a single column within said single bottom compartment,and means below said single compartment shaped to receive bottles fromthe compartment one by one, said means being gravity actuated todispense the bottles.

11. A gravity actuated mechanism for dispensing bottles comprising, aframe divided at the upper-portion thereof into two parallel verticallydirected compartments, the side walls of said compartments convergingdownwardly to merge the compartments into a single vertically directedcompartment, the said compartments being shaped to receive bottles to beheld horizontally therein with the bottom of the bottles direotedtowards therear of the compartments, bars at the outer rear corners'andat the center division between saidcompartments for guiding the bottomsof the bottles and maintaining the bottles in position within thecompartments, there being vertically directed spaces between said barsfor insertion of the bottles, adjustable means vertically mountable onthe side Walls of the compartments in position to engage the bottles andto urge the front portions thereof inwardly, thereby to aid in mergingthe bottles into a single column within said single bottom compartment,and means below said single compartment shaped to receive bottlestherefrom one by one, said means being gravity actuated to dispense thebottles.

12. A dispensing device for cylindrical objects having right and leftside walls and a discharge opening, a shaft seated to rotate Within thedevice, spiders on said shaft shaped to guide said objects to the saidopening, a vertical partition above said spiders dividing the spacebetween said walls into two storage compartments, the walls graduallytapering downward to readjust the objects as they settle durin thedispensing operations to approach and pass said partition and toapproach said spiders, thereby to cause the objects gradually to mergeinto a single column, said partition being at the bottom offset somewhatin order to equalize the spaces on both sides of the partition and so toafford the objects of both columns space to pass below the partition,the left side wall bein below said offset portion outwardly curved inorder to afford freedom for the objects to merge without jamming.

13. A dispensing device for cylindrical objects having side walls and adischarge opening, a

shaft rearwardly extending through and seated for rotation within thedevice, spiders on said shaft shaped to guide said objects to the saidopening, means checking rotation of said spiders, a coin slide manuallymovable to release said rotation checking means and having a slottherein with an enlarged portion at one end thereof, a frame mounted onthe device for engagement by the objects passing therethrough, a memberhung on said frame and extending through said slot, said memberterminating in an enlarged head, resilient means urging said frame intocontact with the passing objects, the frame being moved by saidresilient means after the last object passes the frame to move said rodand thereby to cause the head thereof to lodge within the enlargedportion of said slot and so to lock the slide against movement.

LESLIE C. CASE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 579,330 Peterson Mar. 23, 1897614,553 Jaeger Nov. 22, 1898 627,505 Jaeger June 27, 1899 909,100 LindeJan, 5, 1909 1,327,058 Ogden Jan. 6, 1920 1,460,574 Coseglia July 3,1923 2,100,752 Scheurer Nov. 30, 1927 2,399,105 Donaldson Apr. 23, 1946

